Agoa vs street name change

Donald Trump's imminent return to the White House has changed dynamics across the world, especially in the Middle East and Ukraine. South Africa is not immune to his influence.

- Martin Williams

Bearing in mind Trump's 2018 reference to African nations as "shithole" countries, we should not expect a benign response to negative signals he receives from South Africa.

The proposed renaming of Sandton Drive could bring US relations with South Africa sharply into focus.

Trump was mentioned in the original 2018 Johannesburg City Council motion to rename Sandton Drive.

The proposer was Al Jama-ah councillor Thapelo Amad, who briefly "served" as mayor before being dumped by the ANC-led GLU (government of local uselessness).

In his motivation, Amad cited Trump's comments "regarding expropriation of land which is a domestic affair of the country".

He also accused Trump of "instigating the genocide against humanity in Palestine and even threatening to deploy a permanent ambassador to hold South Africans hostage on how they should handle their domestic affairs."